


There Are Many Reasons to Have a Hard Time Breathing

by the_many_splendored



Series: Domestic, Not Domesticated [3]
Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor is still generally asexual, F/M, Love Confessions, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Showers, Sickfic, past sexual experimentation, sick reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22443427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_many_splendored/pseuds/the_many_splendored
Summary: You never thought a bout of bronchitis would prove what your new relationship is made of.
Relationships: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)/Reader
Series: Domestic, Not Domesticated [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582993
Comments: 15
Kudos: 219





	There Are Many Reasons to Have a Hard Time Breathing

“Darling, I’m home, I-” Alastor’s cheerful greeting cuts off when he hears what sounds like you’re choking. “Darling??”

“Up here,” you croak, and Alastor practically teleports up the stairs to the master bedroom that you two now share. Pushing the door open, he sees you curled up in bed amid a coughing fit. When you catch your breath, you call his name weakly, “Hi Alastor…”

“Honey, I know you said you weren’t feeling well, but this is beyond the pale!” Alastor says. He’s being more literal than the expression usually calls for - your complexion is usually warm and vivacious, but right now, your color is completely off. You reach out to him and he sits on the bed next to you. “I know you said you were going to the doctor – what did she say?”

Taking his hand, you tell him, “It’s bronchitis, which means that even with the boatload of prescriptions she sent me home with, I’m likely to feel rotten for at least a week.”

He kisses the inside of your wrist. “Understood, my dear. I know I can’t leave the house to pick things up, but I’ll be here for anything else you need.”

* * *

The first two days after the appointment are manageable, especially with having a prescribed inhaler. Alastor finds it fascinating how much nebulizers have improved since his day, and his enthusiasm is helpful for distracting you from the pain in your chest.

After dinner on the third day, however, something changes. The two of you are sitting together on the living room couch while he reads and you work on your computer; suddenly you feel a shiver pass through you. Giving yourself a quick shrug, you assume there’s just a chill, but then you get another shiver, and you realize you’re holding your laptop in a death grip. “What the fuck…” you whisper.

The tension is starting to fill your entire body, and Alastor puts his book down to look at you. Taking your computer from you, he places it on the floor and takes you by the shoulders. “Darling, look at me. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know…” and truly, you don’t. You’re twitching all over, and you rub furiously at your arms, trying to stop a chill - which makes no sense, you've been feverish in the last day. You curl further and further inward, trying to stop the spasms, but this only forces you into a painful coughing fit. Al wraps you up and reaches under your shirt, tracing his claws up and down your back. The slight sting grounds you, and you slowly catch your breath.

“It’s too early to take the inhaler, isn’t it?” he asks.

You nod. “Doc says too quick of a dose will cause heart palpitations. I think I need…shit, I don’t know…”

“Maybe a hot shower is in order?” You think about it and nod, allowing Alastor to lead you upstairs.

Once the two of you are in the master bathroom, Alastor has you sit on the toilet while he fiddles with the shower controls. After getting the water where it needs to be, he helps you step out of your pants and underwear, and then peels your shirt and bra off over your head. The nakedness makes you shiver more, and you move to hop into the water stream, but your beau grabs your hand.

“One moment, sweetheart,” he says, and starts to get out of his own clothes. You’d figured he would just wait in the bathroom, not actually join you in the shower, and you try not to stare as he dresses down. When he’s completely nude, he smiles warmly at you. “I didn’t want you to be alone in there in case you felt weak from the cough. Shall we?” You nod weakly, and you step in; Alastor follows you and draws the curtain so that the water stream doesn’t splash onto the floor.

The warmth and steam envelop you and you can feel the tension start to seep away. You close your eyes in relief, and the thud of your pulse starts to feel more manageable. Behind you, Alastor grabs one of your loofahs and asks, “Did you just want to soak, or do you need a wash as well?”

“If you’re offering, a wash would be wonderful.” You’re not sure you can focus enough to give yourself a proper scrub, but you know that if you don’t get some of the sick feeling off your skin, the shower won’t do any good.

He gets some soap ready, and you hear him work the loofah into a lather. He starts with your shoulders, and with a light hum in his throat, he works his way down your back and legs. If the water splashing on his face bothers him, he doesn’t show it. In his crouched position, he taps your calf so that you’ll turn around.

The sight that greets you would be unbearably sexy at any other time, and you want to curse your body for betraying you with your illness. Alastor is still in a crouch, but because of how tall he is, his face is near the bottom half of your belly, and you can imagine how easy it would be for him to hitch your leg over his shoulder and eat you out. The two of you have been experimenting more in the last month since you got together, but you know very well that even if you were in the mood, Alastor wouldn’t want you to over-extend yourself while you’re sick.

“Something on your mind, dear?” he asks, and you shake your head. “Then let me just…” He makes quick work of washing your legs, stomach and chest, and has you turn around one more time to rinse off. “Better?”

“Better.” Alastor holds you close, and the two of you just stay like that for a minute, as if you’ll dissolve if you step out of the heat. You whine when he turns off the water, but he quickly steps out to get your robe and a towel for himself. Once he has you bundled up, he gently pushes you out of the bathroom and into your bed.

After tucking you in, he kisses your forehead. “Do you want that device of yours?”

“Device…Oh, you mean my laptop? No, not now…I just don’t want to be alone.”

“And you won’t be. Just a moment.” He walks over to your dresser and pulls out a pair of red pajamas that you bought for him last week. With a snap of his fingers, he’s dressed again and his towel is neatly folded away.

“I wish I could do that…”

“Do what, sweetheart?” He crawls under the covers next to you, and you turn so you can lay your head on his chest.

“Just snap my fingers and make things happen as I need them to. Wouldn’t have to deal with this damn infection at least.”

He traces your shoulder with his fingers. “My powers aren’t limitless, honey. If they were, I’d have stamped this thing out for you myself.”

You yawn; part of the reason you agreed to the shower is that they always seem to tire you out. “Is that right…”

Your eyes start to drift shut, but they spring open when he says with as much sincerity as you’ve ever heard, “You think I wouldn’t do anything in my power for the woman I love?”

You push yourself up to a sitting position so you can look him in the eye. The sudden motion makes you cough again, but he takes your chin, his gaze never wavering. _Holy shit, he means it!_

Taking his lead, you say, “Then I’m gonna ask that the man _I_ love to not go anywhere tonight if he doesn’t have to.”

His usual smile is even wider than usual. “How can I say no to that?” He lifts your chin and kisses you briefly before gently pushing you to your side of the bed. “That said, because I love you, I must insist you get some rest.”

As you fall into your pillow, you respond, “And because I love you too, I insist you do the same.”

He snaps off the lights, and within ten minutes, the two of you are having co-mingled dreams.


End file.
